Saturday, November 13, 2010

Lost in the Night--part of the universal tale of light conquering darkness

When I saw the choir master today, he knew I hadn't been studying the music for church tomorrow. I pulled out the sheet music when I was home and saw that the choir piece for tomorrow is Lost in the Night, a Finnish song translated by Olav Lee.

As I listened to the recording, I thought about how this is the season to celebrate light no matter what your religion. Last night Sophia and Ella went to research Diwali at the law school. The girls will tell you that Diwali symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness and that is why the law students hung lights and pictures of lamps around the Jury Box.

We are heading straight into full holiday mode here in the United States and sometimes the commercial spree can be daunting and depressing. But there is light in the seemingly endless commercial tunnel--the fun of having a cardamom roll and coffee at Bread and Chocolate before rolling down the ramp to browse in Gibson's with Inez has kick started the holidays for me.

I know that Finns will burn candles in their windows on December 6. In my neighborhood, some shine candles at night to light the way for the Christ child. Soon after Thanksgiving a big Christmas tree will be lit in front of the State House on Main Street. All the festive lights make the dark afternoons and early nightfall bearable, even fun.

The Finns can teach us something about living through the dark months to emerge into the beauty of the light. And the lovely hymn I will sing tomorrow will celebrate the spiritual significance of light vanquishing dark.